Itsy Bitsy Spider
by Keepalive
Summary: Peter Parker is a bright kid with no idea what he's doing. Natasha Romanoff has a problem with trust and reaching out to new people. What could go wrong?
1. First Contact

It was a publicity stunt, the high and mighty Tony Stark visiting orphanages while in New York City to review the final purchase of the plot for Stark Tower.

Natasha (Natalie Rushman these days) could see that he had no real interest in the kids, it was more that Pepper had said it would be a good idea and with her looming promotion to CEO of Stark Industries, she was the boss. She'd decided that the with Stark Expo coming up they needed good press, and the more the better.

Stark was like a whirlwind, he came in to the often derelict, or overcrowded buildings, threw money at the owners, sprinkled advanced Starkphones amongst kids that could barely read and was gone before anyone could ask questions.

As the personal assistant to Pepper Potts, Stark wrangling was part of her job description, so she was sent to herd him between destinations, try to make sure he didn't offend anyone too badly and apologize when he did. It gave her a good opportunity to keep tabs on him so it wasn't all downside, but visiting orphanages was its own special kind of torture. It was one thing to watch Clint and Laura and their little monsters but seeing the hopeful eyes of some thirty or so kids and telling them she wasn't there to adopt them (she wouldn't trust herself with a kid even if she wanted to) brought back uncomfortable memories. She'd been like them once, begging for a savior, anyone to take her from the hell that was the Red Room.

It was at their last stop, St. Frances' in Queens, that something interesting happened. It had started like the others, the matron gushing about how generous Stark was being and how much it meant to the kids. Natasha could see he was barely paying attention and the plastic smile on his face didn't fool anyone, but he was nodding and making all the right noises and not channeling his inner sarcastic dick, so she took a moment to listen to her instincts and snoop around.

She wasn't looking for anything untoward, just cataloguing exits and entry points and being an observer. It had been trained into her particularly harshly to always be watchful, to notice the small details that didn't fit into the pattern. It was this that lead her to the room in the back that looked to be set up for play. There was only one person there, a little boy that couldn't have been more than eight or so, who was concentrating intently on drawing. As silent as she could be, she moved across the room and looked over his shoulder to see what he was working on.

It was a drawing of Iron Man, and she mentally rolled her eyes for not expecting that, but it was almost photo realistic. The proportions were right, the shading well done and the background just out of focus. This kid had some serious talent, especially working with a sketch pad and a pencil.

She had only been watching for a few moments when the kid looked up at her and froze. He was cute, in a sort of helpless way, big blue eyes, short brown hair and graphite smudges on his hands and cheeks. It was the look on his face that struck out at her though, more curious than afraid.

"You're very good at that, do you draw often?" She asked, hoping she could manage an interaction that would let her walk away without tears or yelling. She already had one man-child to babysit and didn't have the slightest clue how to deal with real kids without backup. Natasha most certainly wasn't expecting the way his face lit up or the word vomit that came as an answer.

"Yeah!, I mean- uh I like to draw and the mother says its good to practice and she keeps telling me that I should try new things. This one is Iron Man but I also did- uh Captain 'Merica from all those boring shows at school and the view out the window from my room and, and- lemme show ya!" The words came tumbling out of his mouth and bunched together and she couldn't help the small quirk of her lips at his exuberance. He clearly was excited to show off his work and humoring him seemed harmless, so she crouched down as he flipped back through his pad of his earlier works.

"This one is the Empire State building, from when we went on a field trip as a class last week, and- uh this one is a broken watch that I found by the dumpster outside the school and this one is the nice lady who gives us candy when the doctors visit and and-" As he rambled on and on about his work it became obvious he'd had few occasions where someone was interested and willing to listen. Really though he was quite good, astounding even for someone of his age.

"Those are all very good, I think Mr. Stark would be very impressed by your Iron Man drawing if you wanted to show him." After almost ten minutes of babble Natasha figured she'd humored him enough and really needed to get back to Stark and make sure he hadn't done something stupid.

"You- uh you think so? He'd really like it?" The kid's eyes had an excited shine to them and he looked at her like she hung the moon, which made her uncomfortable for reasons she didn't want to think about.

"I'm sure he would, in fact you had better hurry if you want to catch him before he leaves, Mr. Stark is a very busy man, but I'm sure he has a few minutes to spare." It was incredible how easily she was able to speak bullshit like that with a straight face, Stark was probably itching for a reason to leave and seemed even more uncomfortable around kids than she felt.

With the way the kid ran off to the front of the orphanage in hopes of catching Stark Natasha knew this would be amusing to watch.

"Mr. Stark! Mr. Stark! I was drawing in the back and the uh- the pretty lady with the red hair said it was pretty good and that I should show you and uh- here's Iron Man-" She was right, this was very amusing. Watching Stark try to keep up with the kids babble, all while juggling his phone, coffee and the drawing that was being shoved into his hand had to be the highlight of the day.

"That's uh- good kid, who? -oh Natalie- Huh looks like you can draw pretty well. How bout we trade, I'll uh- take this picture and uh here a brand new Starkphone-" Watching Stark try to fend off this kid all while trying to leave and just escape was both pitiful and hilarious, and watching the kid light-up at the offered tech was even better.

After a much needed save from the matron, they finally left St. Francis, and Stark had a ridiculously relieved look when Happy finally appeared with the car, only to panic when he couldn't find his phone. Natasha realized that Stark had actually given his own phone to that kid with the drawings and couldn't help the laugh that escaped at his vehement refusal to go back in, that he would just make a new better one.

It was when Stark took a moment to look at the picture that she noticed something she hadn't before, down at the bottom in neat cursive script, the boy had actually signed his work.

Peter Parker, how interesting.


	2. Gratitude

It was _amazing_! There weren't even words to describe how cool it had been. He'd gotten to meet _Iron Man_ in person! It was like the best day ever! There was that really nice lady with the red hair that smelled nice and said he was good at drawing and told him he should show Mr. Stark and she was totally right that he'd like it. Mr. Stark had liked the drawing so much he had taken it with him _and_ he gave Peter an awesome Starkphone! It was like Christmas but better!

Swept up in excitement as he was, the few days after Mr. Stark's visit to the orphanage saw Peter bouncing off the walls in excitement, until one of the mothers, Mrs. Lori, got sort of annoyed and asked him if he had said thank you.

Peter could only stare at her open-mouthed and devastated as he realized that no, he hadn't said thank you even once!

That couldn't stand, there was no way he was going to give Iron Man or the nice red-haired lady the impression he had bad manners. He would just have to write them thank you notes, maybe add some of his artwork too, just to be safe. Nodding to himself, happy with his resolution he ran off to get started, couldn't be that hard right? Mrs. Lori just stood there with a bemused sort of smile, Peter was a good kid and smart as anything but she had no idea where he got his energy from.

Peter hit a roadblock almost immediately. He didn't even know the red-haired lady's name! how could he write her a thank you if he didn't know who to send it to? Looking around the room he shared with two other boys for some inspiration, he saw the phone that Mr. Stark gave him. Maybe he could Google her? Mr. Stark had been using his phone the day he'd visited so it should work right?

Snatching up the phone, he looked for some kind of internet app, but there was nothing but a single icon anywhere he could see. Hoping for the best, he pressed the app, and almost dropped the phone when a voice spoke.

"You rang, Mr. Stark?" the voice had a genteel English accent that barely hid an edge of dubious sarcasm. JARVIS was frankly bewildered, Tony Stark hadn't used the touchscreen app on this phone since he'd first made it.

"Oh- uh no I'm not Mr. Stark, I just- uh well he came to visit a few days ago and he gave me this phone and there was a really nice lady with him and and-." Peter paused here for a breath and started wondering who he was even talking to.

* * *

"I see..." JARVIS did not see. He knew Tony Stark better than anyone on the planet with the possible exception of Ms. Potts and while throwing money at a problem to make it go away was a familiar refrain, Mr. Stark had never given his personal things away. Perhaps the palladium poisoning was affecting him more than projected?

"Um I don't know who this is and- the matron always says we shouldn't talk to strangers, but I don't know if she meant only in person, so uh who are you?"

"I am JARVIS, I assist Mr. Stark in whatever capacity he requires. Might I inquire who you are?" One of the first rules Tony had given JARVIS was never to introduce himself to new people as an AI, he'd made that mistake with Colonel Rhodes a few years back and scared the man nearly to death. (How was JARVIS supposed to know that Rhodes had been terrified of Skynet as a kid?)

Deciding quick check into this mystery caller was appropriate, JARVIS traced the signal to the south of Queens, the address of an orphanage. Accessing the forward camera on the phone, facial recognition software judged the boy the be around eight, a little underfed perhaps and not in any database as a criminal, nor as an associate or child of one.

"Oh -uhm hi Mr. Jarvis, my name is Peter Parker. I'm trying to find out who the red haired lady is, the one that came and visited with Mr. Stark. She was really nice to me and said I was good at drawing and and- Mr. Stark gave me his phone and I forgot to say thank you so I uh- wanted to send a thank you, to um both of them." Peter rambled, spitting out the words fast enough to sound like half-gibberish.

JARVIS was luckily well acquainted with understanding the garbled run on sentence spoken to him and got the gist. This was a child trying to send a thank you to Mr. Stark and Ms. Rushman for their visit to the orphanage. Clearly a PR item and thus a matter for Ms. Potts to decide, this time one of the rules from Ms. Potts herself. (After the last time anyone had let a drunk Tony Stark answer or make a phone call.)

"Certainly Mr. Parker, allow me a moment to check with Mr. Stark's assistant." JARVIS replied

* * *

"Ms. Potts, an issue has arisen that warrants your attention."

Pepper, in the midst of trawling through the endless nightmare of legality that becoming a CEO would represent was thankful for the interruption, though she dreaded what Tony had cooked up this time. There were only a few things that JARVIS had come directly to her for in the past, mostly one-night stands that needed to be discreetly dismissed and PR disasters she needed to smooth over.

"Yes JARVIS, what has he done now?"

"It would seem that while on the planned orphanage tour Mr. Stark and Mrs. Rushman made a small friend. One Mr. Peter Parker has, in a manner I have not fully deciphered, come into possession of Sirs mobile phone. Mr. Parker is distraught that he could not thank his new friends for their kind words and is seeking a way he might contact them directly." JARVIS delivered, with only hints of exasperation and fondness.

"…Right, okay Tony made a friend. That's a new one." Blindsided, Pepper needed to consider this. It could either go very well or very poorly. Tony hadn't really had any experience around kids, but good press now was a godsend. Hmm maybe just give the kid a way to contact Tony and see how they interact before going forward? Ms. Rushman, well she had a good head on her shoulders and knew how not to offend people so there should be no problems there, a heads-up would suffice just to let her know what she should be expecting. Maybe this could be good?

"JARVIS, are you still in contact with Mr. Parker?"

"Yes Ms. Potts, I asked him to wait while I alerted you."

"Put him through to my office please."

As Pepper waited for a moment while the call was transferred, she studied the comprehensive, though maybe not totally legal, profile that JARVIS had compiled about this mystery kid.

Peter Parker, eight years old, parents deceased, no living relatives, no surprises there. No complaints through the orphanage, good marks in school and glowing reviews from his teachers regarding his work, with emphasis on his artistic and problem-solving skills. He seemed to be a bright boy but it was noted that he had trouble relating to other children.

"Good Morning Mr. Parker, my name is Pepper Potts, I work for Mr. Stark. I hear that you are trying to get in touch with him? Maybe I can help."

* * *

While Mr. Stark, _Iron man, _was still the coolest and Ms. Rushman, whom he'd learned was the nice red haired lady, was still the nicest, Ms. Potts (call me Pepper) was definitely the easiest adult he'd ever had a conversation with. She knew exactly what he was trying to say even when he was tripping over his own words and she'd even given him an email address for both of his visitors.

"Thank you- thank you- thank you- Ms. Potts- um Pepper ma'am!. Just- I have one more question, I -uh want to send Mr. Stark and Ms. Rushman a drawing and there's no scanner or -uh printer or anything, so do you know a way I can get it to them?"

"Of course Mr. Parker, just ask JARVIS and he can use the scanning feature of the camera to create a digital copy of anything you wish to send, that way you can keep the originals as well."

This kid was adorable, Pepper thought, earnest and guileless, if overly formal ("I insist! I wont stop calling you Mr. Parker until you call me Pepper!"), talking to him was like talking to a miniature Stark, no filter and run on sentences and all. Maybe she was a bit too overzealous in her prior thought about exploiting him for good PR (the press would eat him alive), but this could still be good for Tony, if she could get him to interact.


	3. Line

Natasha Romanoff had her communications tightly monitored and controlled.

It was a function of the deal she'd struck with SHIELD, part of her probation as it were (She'd only been caught two years ago). They'd agreed to spare her life and offered her political asylum and US citizenship and she'd agreed to work for SHIELD and provide relevant intel on her former employers. The monitoring was no secret, but it was understood that only her handler would be privy to the specifics.

_Dear Ms. Rushman,_

_I'm writing this email to say thank you for your kind words and taking time to visit and say hi!_

_I apologize for not saying so in person, but I was very excited to see Mr. Stark!_

_I think he really liked the picture that I gave him because he gave me his phone and I talked to Ms. Potts, (Do you know her? She's really nice.) and she gave me your email address._

_I don't know what else to say really, but I hope you have a good day!_

_Peter Parker_

_P.S.- JARVIS helped me write this and I hope that's okay. There is a drawing attached for you, I wasn't sure what to draw but I googled you and found out you were a model so I hope you like it!_

Natasha wasn't used to dealing with people in anything other than a professional setting. For most of her life the people she knew were divided into marks and handlers, the former to be studied to find their weaknesses and the latter to provide support, training and to identify the former. It wasn't that she didn't have emotions or was an automaton, but distancing and deflection were her default reaction to any kind of emotional connection. Marks were to be manipulated, avoiding attachment to them was crucial and she'd been burned by enough handlers to not want to get too close.

So, reading the unexpected and bemusing note she'd received from that kid she had met at the orphanage last week put her in a strange position. He clearly wasn't a handler; he wasn't even double digits yet so that was a ridiculous thought. He wasn't a mark either, he had nothing that she needed to acquire and no motive to manipulate her either.

This led to the relatively new and strange third category of people she knew. She tentatively called them friends and so far, only included Clint and Laura. People that she genuinely enjoyed being with, that she was slowly learning to relax around (as much as she ever did) and talk to without weighing her words carefully.

Natasha was more worried about the possibility that the kid had recreated some the risqué photo shoots that SHIELD had manufactured. They were done with the express purpose of drawing Stark's interest, so lingerie shoots and suggestive poses were most prevalent. Not that she was embarrassed or anything, using her body was a tool was nothing new, but she didn't even know if the kid knew what he was drawing.

Sure enough the attachment was a very well-done sketch of her, the shoot in Tokyo, she remembered. It wasn't the most suggestively sexual gift she'd received, but they were usually from people she was actively flirting with and were older than eight. (10/10 for getting her proportions right though)

Overall she was surprised that the kid had even remembered her enough to write, they'd only had a fifteen-minute interaction at most, and he'd seemed overawed by Stark. Chalking up the slightly uncomfortable drawing to him trying to share his art and completely missing the context of what he'd drawn, she decided it merited a reply at the very least.

Not ten minutes after she'd received the kid's message her phone chimed, the prearranged signal for her to contact Coulson in way that wouldn't be suspected.

Natasha spent the next half hour finishing what few tasks remained for her for the day (Pepper was very on top of her own work and left little for her to do) and took an extended lunch.

After a brief trip to the safehouse designated for this op (and mentally preparing herself for an onslaught of teasing), she opened a video chat to Coulson.

"Tell me everything about your contact with Peter Parker." Coulson looked way to serious for this to be him poking fun at her young admirer, so she dutifully relayed the extent of their meeting.

"Is Parker a person of interest?" It was jarring to think the kid might be a mark when she'd so thoroughly dismissed the possibility.

Coulson had been silent and thoughtful while she told him of how she'd met the kid and gave a half smile at her question.

"Not in the sense you're thinking, both his deceased parents were SHIELD and we try to take care of our own. Peter was moved to the orphanage in Queens to protect his anonymity, but it seems that again Stark has stomped all over best laid plans." Coulson's last statement came out deadpan and she felt a small smile form at his expense.

"Peter isn't currently part of any op, short or long term but I will request that you maintain a line of communication with him. Both his parents were intelligent and accomplished researchers and that kind of potential shouldn't be left without opportunity to flourish."

That was the game then, SHIELD would wait to see how Peter developed and approach him when he was older as a potential recruit. While she wasn't exactly happy about SHIELD scouting him so young, (uncomfortable parallels to the Red Room there) they were hardly training him to be a killer at eight.

"I'll keep the line open, though any data on how to maintain a meaningful connection with an eight-year-old would be appreciated."

"You're on your own for that one, I may be a glorified babysitter, but Barton is the one with actual kids. Maybe you can invite him to draw you sometime. He seems to like that already." There was the expected ribbing for the drawing she'd received.

"While you're here give me an update on Stark." 

* * *

_Peter,_

_I'm glad to hear from you again and hope you're doing well._

_I was excited to see your drawing, what is it about art that you like the best?_

_I'm not the best at traditional art, I preferred dancing when I was younger. Is that something you've ever tried?_

_I work directly for Ms. Potts and I agree she is a very nice lady._

_I must get back to work now but I hope to hear from you soon._

_Natalie Rushman_.

It was no masterpiece, but the fifteen minutes spent googling what to talk to a kid about said she should ask after his interests and respond with something about herself. While good spy habit required she not release any information about herself, regardless how innocuous enjoying dancing in her youth was, hopefully it would keep the kids' interest enough to reply.

Natasha was confident on that front; it didn't seem like the kid had many people to talk to that took him seriously.

Sending the message off, she returned to packing her suitcase for the upcoming trip to Monaco for the Grand Prix.


End file.
